


A Lesson in Teenage Rebellion (or whatever the fuck society calls it)

by Foilfreak



Series: A Lesson In Life (and all the reasons why it fucking sucks) [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: ...maybe, 10/10 would not recommend, BOOM BITCHES WE BACK, Biracial Character, Eikichi and Reo are still gay for each other, Emi-sensei is still #1 mum, F/F, F/M, Family, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Idk what I’m doing, Insecurities, Jury’s still out on whether he’s doing a good job at it, Lets go!, Lila is a good bean, Lots of it, M/M, Midna is a little shit, Multi, Original Character(s), Pets, Puberty Sucks, Romance, Seijuro is still just trying to fucking survive, Seijuro’s dad is still a fucking dick, Skater Hayama, Swearing, Teenage Hormones, artistic nebuya, beauty queen mibuchi, bet you thought you’d seen the last of me, biracial nebuya, buckle up mother fuckers its gonna be a wild ride, but that’s ok we love them both anyways, but we don’t really care about him so its whatever, gay and in love, guess again, high school sucks, i had to do 4 years of it, i would know, last year of high school, love my OCs, so does growing up, so much swearing, still got lots of those, then again when do i ever, will update tags as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-06-25 09:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19743025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foilfreak/pseuds/Foilfreak
Summary: A lot has changed since Seijuro’s freshman year of high school. More so than the redhead could have ever imagined. And with all his friends having graduated the year before, Seijuro is once again left to fend for himself as he attempts to traverse the slippery slope that is being a teenager in his final year of high school.On top of getting good grades, being captain of the basketball team, pursuing his passion for art, and the constant, ever growing feud between himself and his father, Seijuro is going to have to deal with a variety of other challenges that come with growing up and finally gaining a sense of independence. Some of these challenges will end for the better, leaving Seijuro wiser and more experience than he was before. Others will tear apart his very soul, forcing Seijuro to come to terms with things the redhead had long since buried away, deep within himself, never again to see the light of day. Very soon, Seijuro will learn that his third and final year of high school, will contain some of the biggest surprises, the hardest setbacks, and the greatest opportunities that he’s ever encountered.Now if only he could figure out how to balance it all without constantly feeling like he’s dying.





	1. Early Morning Rush

**Author's Note:**

> I’M BACK!!! GET READY FOR ROUND 2 BITCHES!?!?!?!?!?!!!!
> 
> Hello, and welcome to my new trainwreck of a story. For those of you who don't know me, I am very well known for writing some of the most self-indulgent fanfiction the internet has ever had the misfortune of reading. For those of you who DO know me, hello, hi, welcome back, thank you so much for sticking with me through the dumpster fire that was the 1st installment in this series, and deciding to take the time out of your day to read the 2nd installment. If you enjoyed the tones and themes and writing style of the previous story, then I am pleased to inform you that this story will contain much of the same aspects as the 1st, just continued on and added to further, as I attempt to mold and form the characters into my own, unique versions of them, while also adding in a bit of debauchery here and there. Like with the first story, I have a general idea of where this story is gonna go, but not completely, and things are subject to change/retconning if I feel the need for that to happen, but for the most part I don’t think anything from the last story will be significantly different in this one, but I figured I’d point it out just to be safe. 
> 
> So strap yourselves in guys, gals, and non-binary pals, and get ready for a wild fucking ride filled with confusion, self-discovery, wreckless abandon, stupid decisions, recreational drugs, hormonal teenagers just trying to get by, and a whole ton of not knowing what the every-living fuck is going on. I hope you all enjoy!!!

The sound of an alarm shrieking somewhere off to the left dragged Seijuro out of the deep and relatively peaceful sleep he had been enjoying up until this very moment. Without even bothering to open his eyes, Seijuro removes one of his arms from the warmth and comfort of his blanket, waving the arm around wildly in an attempt to locate the source of that god awful screeching sound.

Unable to find his phone by simply waving his arm around aimlessly, Seijuro tears his eyes open and lifts his head up from the pillow, blinking tiredly around the room until his vision finally focuses on his nightstand, where his phone was currently plugged in and blaring the most annoying sound Seijuro had ever had the misfortune of being woken by at this early hour of the morning. Grabbing the device and turning his alarm off, Seijuro shoves his phone underneath his pillow and allows his head to plop back down on his pillow, ready for another 7 or so hours of sleep before he finally forces himself to get up and face the responsibilities of his day.

A knock on the door startles Seijuro just as he’s about to drift back to sleep, and the redhead groans in annoyance, casting a glare at the door.

“Whaaaaaat?” He yells, not even bothering to hide his displeasure with being bothered.

“Master Akashi, I hate to disturb you this early in the morning, but have you forgotten what day it is today?” The head butler calls from the other side of the door.

“Um… it’s Monday, I know that much” Seijuro responds, his brain doing a pisspoor job of filling in the blanks as to why today was so important, that the headbutler felt the need to wake him up, despite explicit instructions not to do so.

“Well, yes it is in fact a Monday, but what I meant by that question was, have you forgotten that today is your first day of school, sir? If you don’t leave soon you’re going to be late” The butler reiterates, and a moment of silence passes as Seijuro processes the words that he just heard.

“SHIT!” The redhead yells, throwing himself out of bed and landing face-first on the floor. Seijuro scrambles to his feet, beginning to throw things into the suitcase he had forgotten to pack the night before, in favor of enjoying the last precious moments of his vacation he had left. Stupid past self.

Seijuro bursts out the door of his room, only just barely avoiding smacking directly into the head butler as he sprints his way down the hall, barefoot and only half dressed. He instructs one of the maids to leave his freshly washed clothes on his bed as he slides into the kitchen, avoiding the cooks as he runs toward the pantry, grabbing a banana and a granola bar from one of the shelves.

“Ah Master Akashi, good morning to you” the head cook greets cheerfully. “Would you like us to cook something up for you before you head out for school?”

“No not today Mr. Kenichi, I’m running a little late right now. Maybe some other time” Seijuro replies politely, shoving the granola bar and banana into his back pocket.

“Alright, well in that case have fun at school.”

“Thank you!” Seijuro calls as he exits the kitchen, running up the stairs and back into his bedroom, where a maid is currently folding the clothes he had haphazardly thrown into his suitcase.

“Master Akashi, I’ve brought up your clothes just like you asked. Would you like me to pack them away for you, as well?” The maid asks politely.

“No thank you, I can take it from here. Besides I don’t need to bring everything I have, just enough to last me until laundry day” Seijuro replies. The maid bows politely and exits the room, closing the door behind her.

From their Seijuro begins placing his clothes and other necessary items into his suitcase, making sure to cram everything in as best he could so he wouldn’t have too much trouble getting it closed. Once everything has been packed away, Seijuro finishes getting himself dressed, making sure to double check that he has his entire uniform on before throwing his laptop, wallet, keys, notebooks, pencil case, and phone into his backpack, lugging it over his shoulder, and grabbing his suitcase, heading down to the main foyer, where the chauffeur is waiting patiently for him.

“Good morning Master Akashi” the older man says with a polite bow.

“Good morning Mr. Takamura” Seijuro replies, dropping his bags to the ground with a huff. The older man reaches down and takes the suitcase, heading outside to the car with it.

“Are you doing well this morning? I was told you overslept, so I wasn’t sure if you were in good enough condition to go to school today.”

“No, no that’s alright” Seijuro reassures. “I was just up late last night doing some final preparations for the upcoming year, I’ll be fine I assure you.”

“Very well. Then shall we be on our way?”

“Yes, please” Seijuro says, sliding into the backseat of the car with a sigh of relief, glad to finally be getting out of the Akashi Estate and back on campus. As much as the redhead had enjoyed his time off from school, the atmosphere of the Akashi manor had become almost suffocating for Seijuro to deal with at times, to the point where he would honestly rather deal with the chaos of school and basketball training than spend another minute here at the manor.

If it hadn’t been for the kindness of the Nebuya family, who had more or less allowed Seijuro to live with them, free of charge, during the parts of his vacation when he wasn’t either humoring his father at corporate social events, or working his ass off at basketball camps, the redhead would have likely succumbed to some form of insanity by now. Seijuro makes a mental note to do something nice for the Nebuyas as a sign of gratitude for everything they have done for him over the past year.

“Master Akashi, shall I drop you off at the train station like usual?” The chauffeur asks from the driver’s seat as he starts the car up and pulls out of the main driveway and onto the road.

“Yes please, if you don’t mind” Seijuro responds, taking a moment to finish tying his shoes and straighten his tie, something he had neglected to do back at the manor due to his late start. Once the car had arrived at the station, Seijuro hops out of the back of the car and grabs his backpack and suitcase, thanking the chauffeur for the ride before heading through the front doors of the train station, checking in with a young woman behind the counter, getting his ticket, and finally hopping on the train back to school.

A while later, Seijuro gets off the train and exits the station in Kyoto, beginning the short walk toward Rakuzan High School, where he was ready to begin his third and final year of highschool.

It’s still early in the morning when Seijuro finally unlocks the door to his door room, which he had received earlier than most students due to being on campus for basketball over vacation. The sound of birds chirping coupled with students beginning to come out of their rooms and begin readying themselves for their first day of classes.

Taking a deep breath, Seijuro sits down at his desk and pulls out his schedule, mulling over the classes he was assigned to take this year. It was pretty standard as far as most of his previous class schedules had been. History, literature, and other similar classes were delegated to the morning, while math and science related classes would take place in the afternoon, and smack dab at the bottom of Seijuro’s daily calendar, triumphantly circled in yellow highlighter, was **Advanced Studio Art** , a class that Seijuro had fought tooth and nail to get into, fighting against his father and all his pretentious beliefs against the class. But at the end of the day, Seijuro had come out victorious, and now he was being given the chance to continue on with his newfound passion, something he never expected he’d be able to do this time last year.

Granted a lot of things have changed since this time last year. Seijuro was practically a different person compared to who he was at the beginning of his second year, not that that was a bad thing, but it was definitely strange in certain ways, but also exciting and invigorating, and a part of Seijuro almost couldn’t wait to see who he would become by the end of his year. Well, I suppose there’s only one way to find out.

Glancing over at his clock, Seijuro gathers all of his things and throws them into his school back, grabbing his keys before heading out the door, and beginning to make his way toward his first homeroom class of the year, and get a head start on his final year of highschool.


	2. Advanced Studio Art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The third year classrooms looked much the same as the second year classrooms did, albeit on the third floor instead of the second. Seijuro once again sat toward the front of the room and paid moderate attention as classes went on. 

From what Seijuro could tell, this year’s workload likely won’t be any harder than last years, which was a blessing considering that Seijuro’s motivation to do anything related to school was practically nonexistent, and just sitting here thinking about having to do homework later on was giving him a headache. Seijuro hates having to admit it, but apparently even he isn’t immune to senioritis, though he was hoping it wouldn’t hit until at least second semester. Oh well, sucks to suck, I guess.

Regardless of his lack of motivation, one class that Seijuro was very much looking forward to today, was Advanced Studio Art. It seemed almost like a dream, walking out of the class after 5th period ended and heading down the familiar pathway that lead to Seijuro’s favorite building on all of Rakuzan’s campus, but here he way, and boy did it feel good to finally be back in the art building.

By the time Seijuro arrived outside Emi-sensei’s classroom, a small number of students had already gathered outside the classroom door, most of them standing awkwardly by themselves, clearly not used to being in a different class for their final period. Having spent the majority of second semester last year in Emi-sensei’s class, goofing off with Eikichi and the others, Seijuro was more than comfortable in the colorful building, and decided to take a seat against the windowsill, making himself comfortable while he waited for Emi-sensei to arrive.

As time passes, more and more students filled into the building, all of them casting nervous glances at one another as they, reluctantly, begin clumping up and forming small groups, introducing themselves to one another. Seijuro merely kept to himself for the time being, wanting to leave the socialization for inside the classroom, where he would be able to get a better feel about which group he’d fit in with best.

The final bell signaling the beginning of class rings, and most of the students look around in confusion, clearly wondering where their teacher was and why she hadn’t arrived yet. A moment or so passes before the door to the art room unlocks, and Emi-sensei yanks the door open, revealing herself in the most dramatic and over the top fashion possible. All the other students stared at her in confusion. Seijuro merely chuckled.

“WHAT’S UP YOU GUYS!” Emi-sensei yells happily, throwing her hands into the air, her face lit up with excitement, dressed in a white short sleeve button up shirt with a scribble-like pattern on it, tucked into a pair of blue jeans, brown boots, as well as sporting her signature pixie-cut hair. It was pretty easy to tell who among the class of students had Emi-sensei previously, and who among them had never dealt with the enthusiastic young woman. Those who hadn’t had Emi-sensei as a teacher in previous years looked around the room with confused expressions, clearly unused to a teacher speaking so casually to her students.

“Ok, now that that’s out of the way” she says quietly, chuckling to herself. “Good afternoon everyone. My name is Akira Emi, and I am one of the art teachers here at Rakuzan highschool. I’m assuming by the fact that you are standing in this building that you are all enrolled for the Advanced Studio Art class either with myself or one of the other amazing teachers here. So before we get started with today’s activities, I’d just like to take a second and go through my roster to make sure that everyone is here, and so that we can get whoever isn’t on my roster to the classroom that they need to be in. Now really quickly, has anyone here taken a class with my previously?”

Silence falls over the group of students, who all exchange curious glances amongst themselves, trying to see who has or hasn’t dealt with their ‘eccentric’ new teacher before. 

Emi-sensei raises a questioning eyebrow. “No? Nobody?” She questions, seeming genuinely surprised.

“I have” Seijuro pipes up, not even flinching when all eyes snap to him, everyone regarding him with curious expressions. 

Seijuro makes eye contact with Emi-sensei and waves. “Hi!” he says cheerfully.

Emi-sensei stares at him for a moment, almost silently questioning what he was doing here, before her face breaks into a large smile, and her eyes sparkle excitedly.

“MY BABY!” Emi-sensei shouts happily, running up to Seijuro and scooping the boy up into her arms in a rib-crushing hug, lifting the comparatively larger boy into the air like he weighed little more than a paper doll. Something in the back of Seijuro’s mind tells him that he should be mildly concerned about oxygen deprivation, but at the moment he’s simply too happy to be back with his favorite teacher to even care about his aching ribs. Meanwhile, the other students gawk at the carefree display of affection between teacher and student, clearly not used to seeing this sort of thing.

Emi-sensei finally sets Seijuro down after a moment, and flashes the boy one of her biggest smiles, which the redhead happily returns as she heads back to the front of the group of students.

“Alright, moving on from that, let’s get started on this roster, shall we?”

The group of students once against exchange confused glances with one another, but ultimately comply with Emi-sensei’s request, moving to form a semi-circle around her as she begins to call names one by one, ushering the students into her classroom, instructing them to sit wherever they like. Seijuro’s name is one of the first to be called, and while he’ll never admit it, the honorary high-five he gets while entering the classroom makes him feel incredibly special.

Once inside, Seijuro walked toward the back of the room and took a seat at the table that, last year, was usually occupied by Eikichi and the others, but now was left considerably empty, making the redhead painfully aware of the fact that just about all of his friends had graduated the year before, leaving him with no one to hang out with at school.

The blissful high of being back in art class quickly wore off once this realization set in, and Seijuro sighed as he took a seat at the table, taking out his sketchbook and beginning to doodle a few things on the page to occupy the time. The room begins to liven up slightly as people continued filing in, nervously standing about for a moment before taking a seat and starting conversations with the people they had been talking to out in the hallway. 

“Uh… excuse me” a soft voice from behind Seijuro says. The redhead turns and is met with the sight of a moderately tall girl with brown eyes, shoulder length black hair, the bottom part of which had been dyed dark purple, wearing the standard Rakuzan uniform, and clutching a small, black sketchbook to her chest. 

“Yes? What is it?” 

“Is this seat taken?” The girl asks, pointing down at the chair next to Akashi. The redhead blinks in confusion for a moment, before finally snapping out of his stupor.

“Oh, yes of course. By all means” he responds, moving his things out of the way so that girl can sit down. The two strangers sit in silence, neither one moving to start a conversation. Seijuro briefly wonders if maybe he should say something, after all, the girl had decided to sit directly next to him, despite the copious amount of seats left throughout the rest of the classroom. His thought process was interrupted however, when the familiar sight of Emi-sensei came skipping into the classroom, having finished calling names off of her roster.

“Alrighty guys, everyone please find yourself a seat if you haven’t already” the small woman instructs, and the remaining stragglers fill up the leftover seats that were empty prior to them entering the room. The table that Seijuro is sitting at fills up quickly with some of the remaining students.

“Great! Ok, so if you’re in this room right now, then that means that you’ve completed your portfolio and have been accepted into the very special Advanced Studio Art program here at Rakuzan High. Like I said outside, my name is Emi-sensei, and I will be your mentor and guide for the rest of this year and you prepare yourselves, both mentally and physically, to embark upon whatever journey you decide once you graduate at the end of this year” Emi-sensei says. “Some of you may decide to major in art or some variation of it at university, some of you may not, but regardless of your decision, my job is to make sure that, by the end of this year, you have a body of work that meets the expectations of both myself, as well as the administrators of the art programs you may or may not be preparing to apply for.”

Whispers and murmurs fill the classroom for a moment, and Emi-sensei waits patiently for all the talk to die down before continuing.

“Now I’m sure all of you are more than ready to hit the ground running, but since it's the first day of school, and we’re all still trying to get settled back into the routine of things, I’ve decided that for today, we’re just going to do some fun little activities to help us get to know everyone, and so that we can all become a little more acquainted before we get into the meat and potatoes of what I have in store for all of you this year.”

The remainder of the first day of class passes relatively quickly and painlessly as Emi-sensei goes around the room and has everyone introduce themselves and state one interesting fact about them. Pretty standard as far as first day of school activities go, though Seijuro was sort of hoping that they would jump right into things. Alas, he would have to wait until tomorrow.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of the school day, Emi-sensei bids them a good afternoon as all the students file out of the room, talking jubilantly amongst themselves. Seijuro wordlessly gathers up his things and heads out of the classroom, heading down the familiar path toward the basketball gym, where the second best part of his day, is about to commence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say for this chapter other than welcome back, thanks for tuning back in. Still not sure when I’m gonna be able to upload, but ill do my best to get something out every once in a while. I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, make sure to leave a comment down below letting me know what you think of the story thus far, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 3. Bye!!!


	3. Back In Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The main basketball gym is just as packed with new recruits waiting to try out for this year’s team as it was last year. Boys of all ages, heights, shapes, and sizes, gathered around, talking and fooling around with each other. 

Being a regular member already, as well as the team captain, Seijuro is able to bypass the regular entrance to the gym in favor of using the back entrance, where he enters the locker room to find Coach Shirogane, standing in the middle of the room, writing something down on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard.

“Ah, Akashi, there you are” Coach Shirogane greets, looking up from his clipboard as the redhead enters the locker room.

“Good afternoon, Coach! Tryouts look as full of potential as they did last year. Will you be needing help with running them again?” Seijuro asks, setting his bag down on the bench and beginning to change out of his uniform.

“We’re a bit more prepared in terms of the number of staff we have on hand than we were last year, so thankfully things aren’t quite as last minute” Coach Shirogane responds. “However, I would still like for you to oversee one of the groups in tandem with the other 1st string players. I believe it will be a good opportunity for them to further develop their skills by observing the new recruits, as well as working alongside you to help determine who belongs in what string. As confident as I am in my knowledge and ability to determine a player’s skills, abilities, and potential by observing them play, I must admit that utilizing you and the previous first-string members in the decision-making process last year, yielded unexpected, by surprisingly positive results, and players who I would have deemed better fit for second or third string, are now invaluable members of our first string team.”

“Of course, I’d be more than happy to help” Seijuro replies eagerly, taking Coach Shirogane’s curt nod and hum of approval as a sign to get dressed and ready himself for the upcoming tryouts.

By the time Seijuro was finished dressing and stretching himself, the other 1st-string members had returned from their roadwork, and upon seeing their captain, make their way toward him.

“Good afternoon, Captain” a tall boy, with dark black hair that was saved on either sides of his head, but longer on top, fair skin, and an incredibly muscular build, said cheerfully as he approached Seijuro, followed closely behind by the rest of the 1st-string team.

“Afternoon, everyone. I see you’re all doing well today. Have you spoken with Coach Shirogane yet? I believe he has slightly different plans for us today.”

“Ya, we saw him earlier and he told us that we’re gonna help you with tryouts today. It’ll be like a blast back to first year, except this time we’re the ones who get to watch everybody else work their tails off” another boy, slightly shorter than Yagi, with pale blonde hair tied up into a bun on the back of his head, pipes up.

“Well I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you Nishimoto. After all, if one of the new recruits turns out to be better and more skillful than you, you could very well end up losing your starter position to a 1st year if you’re not careful” Seijuro warns the younger boy, causing him to chuckle nervously.

“I uh, guess I didn’t think of it that way” the blonde responds, causing his teammates to laugh at him slightly.

“Well regardless, we have a job today, and I expect all of you to be on your best behavior for the potential new recruits. It’s important for us to show them what we’re looking for in terms of skill and work ethic if they want to make it as a member of our team, so that means no slacking off during demonstrations. Work as hard now as you would during an official match, since the future of this team could very well depend on the calibre of players we are about to recruit, so everybody stay on your toes and follow directions and we should all make it out of this alive” Seijuro says, regarding all of his new team members with a firm but friendly expression, and all of the boys straighten themselves up, ready to take on the challenge set before them.

“Alright then” Seijuro begins, “let's go greet our potential new teammates then.”

“Right!” The boys shout together, falling behind their captain and heading into the main gym, where Coach Shirogane is currently waiting for them so that he can get started.

The process of introducing the 1st-string regular members goes much the same way as it did last year. Coach Shirogane starts out with a speech, both welcoming the hopeful recruits and stating his warning to the boys, but especially the 3rd years, regarding the unlikelihood of them ever joining the 1st-string this year, but encouraging them to try out and see how far they get regardless. He then moves on to introduce each of the regular members, along with their positions, one by one, and they are each met with thunderous applause from their captivated audience. 

First up is the shooting guard, Fujii Toson, a tall, lanky 2nd year with dark brown hair, sharp facial features, and prominent bags under his eyes. Then he introduces Tsukuda Jin, the power forward, a solidly built young man with short black hair, a slightly rounded face, large hazel eyes, a slightly crooked smile. Followed by Nishimoto Shigetsu, the small forward, a tall but averagely built young man with pale blonde hair usually seen tied up in a bun, and a long face, with bony cheek bones. And then of course there was the center, Yagi Minoru, the tallest of the group with black hair that is buzzed on the side of his head, but longer on the top, with strong, broad shoulders, and unkempt facial hair.

As soon as Seijuro’s name and position are introduced, Coach Shirogane, once again, hands the microphone over to the redhead, and allows him to make a speech of his own.

“Good afternoon, everyone. As Coach Shirogane said, my name is Akashi Seijuro, and I am the captain of the Rakuzan High School Basketball club. I would like to take a moment to thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come and tryout for this team, and I am incredibly pleased with the sheer amount of potential and motivation I see in this crowd today” Seijuro begins, smiling when the crowd bursts into cheers and applause.

“Now I believe Coach Shirogane already did a magnificent job of explaining the technicalities and expectations that joining a distinguished team such as this involves, and so I won’t bore you with any unnecessary details” the redhead says. “I would however like to take a moment and tell you exactly what I said to last year’s potential candidates, some of whom have sadly left us for whatever their reason was, while others still remain today, working hard and training everyday to strengthen their skills alongside their fellow teammates, growing and improving, not only as basketball players, but as people as well.”

The gym falls into complete silence, waiting with baited breath for Seijuro to continue with his speech. 

“In basketball, it doesn’t matter where you came from, where you plan on going, or even where you are right now. Basketball doesn’t care. Basketball doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, have light skin or dark skin, and it certainly doesn’t care if you’re not feeling well or aren’t having a good day, those things don’t matter in basketball. And while to some of you, the sport of basketball may seem to be a rather morbid or cruel sport, I for one think that’s one of the things that makes it so amazing” Seijuro says, pausing to take in the slightly confused, but awed expressions of the recruits.

“Basketball is a sport that allows you to be who you truly are. You’ll never have to pretend to be someone you're not, or fear rejection because of how you look, dress, and act, or limit yourself because people fear and avoid you otherwise. Basketball is a sport where the only way to climb the ladder and succeed, is through hard work, dedication, and frankly, a bit of failure. It’s a hard pill for many to swallow, myself included, but unfortunately there are times in our lives when the only way to truly grow and improve as a player, is to lose, and lose, and lose, and lose again, and lose some more.” Whispers of confusion begin to fill the gym, but Seijuro does not pay them any mind.

“Now I know that sounds rather oxymoronic coming from the captain of a basketball team known for winning every game we play, but it’s true. As much as we all hate to lose, its an important aspect of life, and an aspect that we all encounter sooner or later. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my most recent loss, which sucked more than you could possibly imagine, it’s that there is no greater sign of strength or determination in a player, than the will to pick yourself up after a loss, and just keep going... even if you have to cry yourself to sleep for a couple of nights to get yourself there.” The group of boys, as well as the other 1st-string members, burst out laughing at Seijuro’s unexpected joke, and the redhead internally high-fives himself for how expertly he executed it.

“In all seriousness though, I truly meant every word I just said with 100% of my being. Yes the crying myself to sleep did happen but that’s a story for me to know, and for the rest of you to please never ask me about because it’s a lot more embarrassing than I’m willing to admit. Moving forward, I’d like you all to remember that in basketball, your skills speak for themselves, and while I can’t promise that all of your hopes and dreams will come true by joining this team, I can guarantee that you are about to join a sport that will offer you a place to belong, friends who will have your back no matter the circumstances, and memories of days that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Thank you all so much for coming out today, and I wish you all the best of luck with all your future endeavors.”

The crowd once again erupts into thunderous cheering and applause as Seijuro returns the microphone to Coach Shirogane, moving to stand next to his teammates as the elder man announces that the recruits will now be split up into groups and that tryouts will begin shortly. As Seijuro leads his teammates and the potential recruits to the designated gym, a feeling of intense excitement fills his chest, and he can’t help but grin excitedly as the anticipation of how incredible this year will be overflows him, and he can already tell that this year is going to be a fucking blast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay chapter 3 is up! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as well as the little callback to a chapter from the previous installment, where hopefully you can see a bit of how Seijuro’s personality has changed via the way he speaks and interacts with the people around him. I’m still not sure how often I’m gonna be able to update this story since I’m starting school up again next week, but hopefully Ill be able to continue with this story at a slightly faster pace once things in my personal life start to settle down. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think of it down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 4. Bye!!!


	4. Making Friends... or not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

If there’s one thing that the first few days of school have shown Seijuro thus far, it’s that making friends with people who are older than you is a very poor social tactic in the long run, if only because by the time you yourself are there age, you realize that all of your friends have graduated and abandoned you, and now you’re left completely on your own with one of two choices: make more friends, or spend the rest of the year a social outcast who constantly eats lunch by themselves on the roof because people give you weird looks whenever you try to sit by yourself in the cafeteria. Needless to say Seijuro was not enjoying the prospect of either of those choices, but he supposed that the former won’t make him look like as much of a fucking loser as the latter will. 

Too bad making friends is a task that’s a lot easier said than done, especially when your classmates all seem to want jackshit to do with you. Fucking assholes. 

By the time Thursday rolls around, Seijuro is more than a little annoyed at how much more difficult this whole ‘making friends’ thing is than he remembers it to be from previous years. Sure he could just settle with the other players on the basketball team and call them his friends, but with how little he knows his current teammates, and how little time they’ve spent interacting outside training sessions, the redhead knows that calling a bunch of people he only hangs out with out of convenience ‘friends’ would be the biggest stretch of his entire life. 

As much as Seijuro wished it was, it wasn’t enough to simply rely on those most convenient for him to fill in his social circle like he had before, or rely on them to make friends for him. Not only was his situation vastly different compared to when he was in middle school or, hell, even the last two years, but it also put a lot of expectations on people he barely knew, and while Seijuro did want to get to know his new teammates better, he ultimately knew that placing all his social needs on them wasn’t fair to them. Not to mention the possibility that his new teammates might not want to be as close to their captain as last year’s regulars were. 

No, this year Seijuro needed to make some new friends of his own. People who didn’t know him prior to his loss to Seirin high his freshman year. People who he had things in common with outside of just basketball. People who Seijuro could connect with on his own, and be completely himself around, without worrying about any expectations or preconceived notions they might have about him. 

Question is… how does he find people like that?

This question and more plagued Seijuro’s mind as he sat throughout his daily classes, bored out of his mind, and wanting nothing more than for the day to just be over already. Alas, time did not seem to be on Seijuro’s side today, and even the walk to the art building for 6th period seemed to last an eternity and a half, no doubt made worse by the sight of various other students enrolled in his same art class, walking together and talking happily amongst themselves, clearly having a much easier time mingling amongst one another than Seijuro.

Upon arriving to Emi-sensei’s class, the redhead sits down at his seat with a heavy sigh, already resigning himself to a very lonely and boring year.

“Pardon me” a quiet, almost mousy voice says from behind Seijuro, snapping the boy out of his pity party in time to see the same tall, brown eyed, black dyed purple haired girl that has sat next to him every day since the first day of school.

“Oh I’m sorry” Seijuro apologizes, moving his chair over to make room for the girl to pull her’s out and sit down, quietly taking out her sketchbook and beginning to draw something. 

Although Seijuro is normally a rather perceptive individual, capable of coming up with answers to problems after only a few moments of considerate thinking, it takes him a comically long amount of time for the redhead to realize that the answer to his social problem has literally been sitting next to him in class for the past 4 days, quietly sketching to herself without acknowledging the existence of any of her other classmates. 

If it weren’t for the fact that he were in a room full of people, Seijuro might have banged his head against the table over how stupid he had been. Of course, it was so simple, how the hell had he not considered making friends with people in his art class? It was the most obvious answer and yet for some reason it had eluded him until now.

Looking over at the girl sitting next to him, Seijuro thought for a moment as to how he should strike up conversation with her. The only times they’ve ever spoken were when she made her presence known before sitting down, and as far as Seijuro could tell she hadn’t so much as glanced at any of the other students, so it wasn’t like she’d already made tons of friends to hang out with during class already. Maybe if he said the right things, this girl would open up and talk to him, and they could start something of a casual friendship with one another. Of course there was always the possibility that she didn’t want to make friends with him, and the only reason she sat next to Seijuro in the first place was because he looked like the kind of person who  **wouldn’t** talk to her. 

‘UGH, why does everything have to be so fucking complicated?’ Akashi complains to himself, fiddling nervously with the hem of his school jacket as he contemplates what he should do.

Alas, by the time Seijuro goes to finally introduce himself to the girl sitting next to him, the bell rings and Emi-sensei walks into the room, signaling the start of class. The redhead sighs heavily and slumps back into his chair, internally berating himself for missing his chance to make a new friend.

‘Oh well, there’s always tomorrow, I guess’ Seijuro thinks to himself, turning his attention toward Emi-sensei as she begins excitedly talking about the day’s lesson plans, vowing to get over his nerves and starting engaging with his new classmates, in the hopes that at least a few of them will want to be his friend. 

Here’s hoping that things actually work out in Seijuro’s favor for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys here’s another chapter for you. It’s a little on the shorter side, but I’ve unfortunately not had much time to write with everything that’s been going on with school and work recently. I’m hoping to start posting more often as things settle down with school but for not I cant make any promises, so for now I hope this little chapter of Seijuro struggling to figure out how to make friends can tide you over until I have a bit more time to write. Thanks so much for reading, make sure to leave a comment letting me know what you think of this chapter, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 5, where a lot of your favorites from the previous story will be returning for a chapter or two ;-). Bye! <3333333333

**Author's Note:**

> So Ive decided to start posting this story ahead of when I originally thought I was going to post it. I have 1 or 2 chapters already written out, and I was hoping to have 9 or 10 written out before I started posting, but I got impatient and decided to just say fuck it and post the first chapter. 
> 
> I’m currently going through some family emergencies right now, which means that I have little time, or conversely, little energy left at the end of the day to really write much of anything. Despite this, I had a sudden start of inspiration earlier today and decided to ride the wave as best I could after I put my 4 year old cousin to sleep, and managed to bang out the first 2 chapters. I’m not sure how often Ill be able to update, and I don’t think it’ll be like the last story where I was posting a chapter every day because I was writing nonstop everyday and was just in a position where I could post everyday, but I promise that once I start a story, I will do everything in my power to finish it, so rest assured that even if you don’t have an update from me for a while, I will eventually come back to it and make my way through it as best as I can. And if your ever wondering how long until the next update, just feel free to leave a comment below asking, and that’ll probably give me enough motivation to get back into writing, even if I was experiencing writers block. Sometimes I just need a little push to get back into writing and work through my writers block, so if you even notice that I’m gone for an extended period of time, just leave a comment and ill probably have a post up in the next few days, knowing me.
> 
> Anyways I’m gonna stop talking, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 1. Leave a comment down below letting me know what you think of how things are starting out, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 2. Bye!


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